INSPIRED by the many recommendations of this popular Indian, my partner and I decided to give Cowdenbeath's Namaste Shimla Palace a go one night earlier this month.

Excited by the prospect, we had already scoured the menu, although as avid Indian fans, we knew, more or less, what to expect.

We booked as it was a weekend evening and assumed it would be packed out. However, when we arrived for our 7pm booking, there was just a handful of tables with diners, albeit they looked like they were enjoying themselves.

After checking in and having our temperatures taken, we were accompanied to our seat and given a sheet of paper which turned out to be a fairly scarce looking menu. After checking with the waiter, it turned out they were operating a scaled-back menu, which was slightly disappointing as their website failed to state this.

Nevertheless, we were hungry and I plumped for the chicken madras, a side of haggis pakora and a chapati, all accompanied by a slightly flat pint of Tennant’s.

My partner, a vegetarian, went for the vegetable biryani and a chapati.

While the menu was scaled back, the portions certainly were not as we each received generous helpings of our desired dishes – all of which were superb in flavour, texture, and spice.

The service was also a positive as each waiter remained attentive, although this was easier to do as the place was quiet, but they helped when they could and let us eat when our food arrived.

All in all, we enjoyed our meal, and at roughly £37 for everything, we agreed it probably wouldn’t be our last time back.